ABAT Stock On Track For Biggest One-Day Percentage Gains In 8 Months — DOE Reverses Course On Lithium Project Funding

Following an appeal submission and an informal dispute resolution review that spread over several months, the U.S. Department of Energy concluded that the continuation of the company’s project is warranted.

• The company’s $115 million, five-year award was originally granted in October 2022 to execute the first phase of construction of the commercial lithium refinery to produce 5,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium hydroxide per year.
• The grant was terminated in October last year in part due to the government shutdown and the Trump administration’s widespread review of federal programs.
• As part of the reinstatement, no amendments were made to the awarded grant, and the DOE also updated the contracted project schedule to account for time spent in the review process.

Shares of American Battery Technology Company (ABAT) surged on Monday after the mineral refiner’s $115 million grant award from the U.S. Department of Energy was reinstated by the government agency that will aid the company in advancing its Tonopah Flats Lithium Project.

At the time of writing, ABAT stock was up nearly 30% premarket and was on track for its biggest one-day percentage rise in eight months, if session gains hold.

Why DOE Canceled The Award

The grant was terminated in October last year in part due to the government shutdown and the Trump administration’s widespread review of federal programs. At that time, the DOE revoked 321 financial awards for 223 projects, erasing $7.56 billion in clean energy funding without a warning, according to the government website.

The company’s $115 million, five-year award was originally granted in October 2022 to execute the first phase of construction of the commercial lithium refinery to produce 5,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium hydroxide per year. It even completed the first two years of the contracted grant before it was canceled.

Why DOE Reinstated The Award

Following the U.S. government's mass grant cancellation, American Battery Technology submitted an appeal and entered into a series of technical and commercial reviews of the project's performance as part of the informal dispute resolution review meeting.

In the end, the company received notice from the DOE that said “after a thorough review of all materials submitted, including your reconsideration request, the Department has concluded that rescission of the termination notice and continuation of the project is warranted.”

No amendments were made to the awarded grant, and the DOE also updated the contracted project schedule to account for time spent in the review process, although those details were not publicly disclosed.

“Of the hundreds of DOE grants terminated last Fall, very few have been able to successfully appeal the decisions and have their contracts reinstated,” said CEO Ryan Melsert. “I am very proud of our team for relentlessly demonstrating the performance of these internally-developed critical mineral technologies and how crucial it is to implement and scale these commercial facilities to support the national security of the United States and enable its energy dominance.”

What Do Retail Traders Think About ABAT?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward ABAT remained in ‘neutral’ territory over the last 24 hours. 

One bullish user on the platform said the company is “the purest US critical-minerals play.”

Another user, following the news of the grant reinstatement, thinks the stock will continue its “rightful upward trend.”

ABAT stock is down 7% so far this year but has more than doubled in value over the past 12 months.

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